A method of manufacture of buffing disks and bonnets



R. A. SALICK Sept. 30, 1958 METHOD OF MANUFACTURE OF BUFFING DISK AND BONNETS Filed April 12, 1954 ATTO R N E Y United States atent A NETHOD OF MANUFACTURE OF BUFFING DHSKS AND BGNNETS Ralph A. Salick, Brookfield, Wis. Application April 12, 1954, Serial No. 422,306

6 Claims. (Cl. 300-21) This invention relates generally to bufiing pads or disks and to the manufacture of the same.

A general object of the invention is to provide an improved polishing or bufiing disk or bonnet.

Another object of the invention is to provide a unique and novel manner of manufacturing butting disks.

Another obiect of the invention is to provide a method of manufacturing bufiing disks from a single and continuous strand of yarn, thread, fiber, ribbon, and the like.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a buffing disk in which all of the individual strands are simultaneously secured to a backing sheet and uniformly retained thereon.

Yet another object of the instant invention is to provide a method of manufacturing bufiing disks wherein a continuous strand is uniformly wound on a form or core, secured together, and severed to provide a disk having a multiplicity of strands of uniform density and length.

Another object is to provide an improved pad comprised of a multiplicity of strands wherein each strand is individually secured in the pad structure and retained independently of each of the other strands therein to insure continued retention of all strands under severe commercial usage.

A further object of the invention is to disclose a method of manufacturing pads and the like utilizing a multiplicity of strands or fibers, in which a form or core having as a characteristic selective shaping and sizing, is used to manufacture pads of various shapes, sizes, and materials.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method I of buffing disk manufacture in which a form or the like is used in a manner to receive a continuous strand of yarn, thread, wire, fiber, ribbon, or the like, and whereon the winding of the strand on the form may be readily varied to selectively alter the density of the pile and thereby obtain a finished product specifically designed for a desired purpose.

According to the invention, an improved buffing disk is provided, together with the disclosure of a new and novel method of manufacturing the same. Heretofore, polishing or bufiing disks have been made by sewing together a multiplicity of Weft strands in long strips and winding such strips to form a disk whereupon one face is coated with an adhesive and secured to a backing material. Obviously, this method requires a number of steps which are each time-consuming. The method proposed herein serves to utilize a flexible or rigid form or core upon which a single and continuous strand of yarn, thread, fiber, wire, ribbon, or any combination thereof, is rapidly wound, with the density of the strands in the disk being predeterminately controlled by the compactness of the winding of the strand on the form strip. The width of the form strip used in the manufacture of the pads also serves to control the depth of the pile or strands in the pads or disks. After the core or form is thus completely wound, it is compressively formed to a predetermined shape, generally round or oval, and one edge face assezss is adhesively coated and secured to a backing material, such as canvas, cloth, or the like; after the adhesive has set, the form is readily removed in one of several Ways and the bufling disk or pad is ready for commercial use. Any pad or disk may be economically manufactured in the aforesaid manner with a minimum of waste.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention which will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description exemplifying the same, may be achieved by the apparatus described herein in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of a buffing disk operatively mounted on a power driven shaft, with said disk manufactured according to the inventive method disclosed;

Figure 2 is a detailed view of a portion of a flerible core strip with the continuous strand wound thereon;

Figure 3 is a detailed view of a butting disk showing various detailed structure or make-up thereof;

Figure 4 is an enlarged detailed cross-sectional view of the buffing disk with the core still retained in the formed position;

Figure 5 is an enlarged detailed view similar to Fig. 4 showing the edges of the core strip pointed and with a cutting plate positioned in a manner to simultaneously sever each of the weft strands to a uniform length; and

Figure 6 depicts a suggested manner for coiling the form strip adjacent a supporting wheel, which is powerdriven; when the form is properly coiled to a predetermined diameter, the succeeding step in the manufacture of the disk may be performed.

Polishing or bufiing disks, bonnets, or pads, are generally manufactured in any one of several ways. Originally such items were made by mounting a circular disk of lambs wool on a backing plate; later, such items were made by sewing or adhesively securing long strips of weft strands onto a backing plate. The latter method provided a means for more properly securing the Weft in the disks, so that the disks could be used commercially under more rugged operating conditions wherein they could be rotated at considerably higher speeds. However, the continued demands of industry required that buffing disks be designed to operate at higher and higher speeds and under still more severe operating conditions. Especially in automotive and furniture plants, the need for a yet more rugged polishing disk is imperative. In such plants, literally thousands of such disks are completely worn out every day and need to be replaced at frequent intervals.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, and specifically to Fig. 1 thereof, a new and novel bufiing disk it) incorporating the particular features of the invention disclosed herein is shown operatively mounted on the end of a power driven flexible shaft 11. Such disks may generally be rotated at any of a plurality of speeds in the high or low speed range dependent mainly on the nature of the bufiing work at hand. Since the inventive features of the bufiing disk 10 exist primarily in the novel manner or method in which the disk. is manufactured, the method will be described in detail.

Ordinarily, polishing disks or pads are made in any of a number of ways including the use of a woven material such as carpet, circular disks of lambs Wool, manufactured disks comprised of long strips of sewed weft strips secured to a circular backing disk, and others; while disks manufactured in the latter manner have one or more advantages over the others, they likewise have at least several inherent disadvantages or defects which greatly affect the desirability of using such disks commercially. Among these defects are lack of strength especially at higher speeds, not readily adaptable to economical production, and inability to be adapted to a sufiiciently wide range of commercial uses because of a lack of flexibility, length of nap or pile, and density.

The method of manufacturing polishing disks, as disclosed herein, serves to overcome each of these deficiencies, since the disks can be inexpensively made in a manner to provide means for'readily controlling the essential factors, such as size and shape, depth of pile, degree .of

flexibility, degree of density, etc., andfwhereby the. disks 2 wherein the compactly wound strand of textile material 12 is shown near the right end of the strip while the less can be selectively manufactured of any one of a wide variety of materials with equal ease and'facility.- Included among the materials from which disks, bonnets, or pads can be made in the hereinafter described manner are wool, cotton, linen, fleece, silk, rayon, plastic or artificial yarns, jute, hemp, string, and wire. Generally,fthe

less expensive textile materialsare used for polishing and buffing pads or disks, although the more expensive materials may be used if the particular application warrants the use of the same. To obtain an extremely close and finely textured polishing pad, it is possible to utilize material known inthe textile trade as roving. Such material represents an intermediate step in the processing of textiles, i. e., after cotton or wool is carded, but prior to its being Woven into strands. The roving, comprises a 'plurality of extremely fine filaments that have been endless strand or coil 12 of the desired material. The .word weft, as used throughout this application, is not used in its strict technical sense since no transversely extending warp strands are shown or required. For want of a more suitable or descriptive expression, however, the term weft is applied to those polishing strands adhesively secured together at their lower looped ends, or bonded at their looped ends, to a transversely extending backing member. The strand material is mechanically or manually wound clockwise or counter-clockwise around the edges of a long flexible forming strip ribbon 13, as shown in Fig. 2, such as spring steel, spring bronze, plastic, cardboard, or other suitablematerial. It should be noted that the width of the strip, as indicated by the numeral 14 in Fig. 2, serves to determine the depth of the pile or length of the weft strands in the finished polishing disk. In'specific applications, a pad or disk with extremely short, medium, or long strands, may be of utmost importance; the use of the herein described method permits the manufacturer to readily control this variable, since he need only use a forming strip 13 of the requisite width.

Likewise, the thickness of the forming strip 13 is instrumental in helping to determine the density of the weft strands for any given area on the face of the disk; if a thin strip is'used, it only stands to reason that less area is consumed than if a strip of greater thickness were used. On the other hand, in certain cases it may be desirable to use a thin forming strip for manufacturing pads but to inject a filler to control the density of the weft. Preferably, to provide the utmost density of the pile or nap, the forming strip or ribbon 13 is thinner in thickness than the diameter of the individual polishing strands, as shown a in the drawings. Another means for controlling the density of the weft strands is by the degree of compactness with which they are Wound around the forming'strip 13.

For example, if the endless strand is wound on the strip under extremely taut but uniform loads, a greater number of adjacent weft strands will. be created per unit length of the forming strip than would be the case if lesserten- 'sive loads were placed on the strand during the winding operation. Spacing between adjacent windings of the strand would also serve to reduce the number of weft strands per unit length of forming strip. The various possibilities in this regard are clearly exemplified in Fig.

compactly wound and greater spaced adjacent weft strands are shown toward the left end of the strip. However in actual production the strip would be wound with the strand under a predetermined load and rate to insure a uniform number of weft strands per unit of area on the face of the polishing disk or pad.

The manner in which the endless strand 12 is wound on the forming strip 13 may be efliected' in any one of several Well-known different ways, including one in which the forming strip is axially rotated at a predetermined rate while the strand is controllably fed therein under a uniform tensive load, and another whereby the mechanism serves to mechanically spinthe strand around the forming strip as the latter moves forward at a uniform rate of feed. In any case, it is imperative that the strand be wound or placed thereon evenly and under a constant load in order to insure uniform density throughout the 16. After the entire strip 13 has been woundon the block 15, the coiled forming strip can be readily removed from the coiling device since the outer end'of the strip 13 is securely anchored to prevent unwanted uncoiling. The inner end-of the strip 13 is secured in a radial slot 19 formed in the block 15; endwise removal of the coiled forming strip 13 may be readily eflected without having the inner end of the strip bind in the block slot 19. It

.should be noted that any width of forming strip may be readily coiled on the block 15 and removed therefrom with a minimum of, effort and without disturbing the textile strands thereon. It should also be noted that the Winding block 15 may be any basic shape such as round, oval, square, rectangular, or triangular, so that the forming strip 13 coiled thereon may be readily shaped to form polishing pads in any desired shape. Or, conceivably, two or more forming strips 13 could be simultaneously coiled on the winding block with different textile materials on each strip, or with materials of different colors to permit. variation in the pattern of the weftstrands on the face of a polishing disk or pad. It should be apparent that ,one skilled in the art could conceive of numerous other ways in which the strips 13 could be coiled or wound and which would effectively serve to accomplish the aforesaid step.

As shown in Fig. 4, portions of the strand loops pre-' sented by one edge or face of the coiled forming strip 13 are coated with an adhesive 20 having desired adhesive qualities for the particular material being used. The face may be dipped, sprayed, or brushed, to insure an even coat of adhesive thereon, and to insure'that the adhesive will penetrate the material and flow in and around all indentions and openings whereby each and every exposed strand is fully imbedded. Thereafter, the adhesive 20 can be subjected to heat, cold, pressure, or other medium, to effectively set or cure the same and weld all of the weft strands into a single unitary structure; a vulcanizing process could conceivably be substituted in place of' the adhesive with equal effectiveness. The adhesive when cured or set, will act as a backing member and will serve to determine the flexibility of the finished bufling or polthereon together in a single structure one off several methods may be utilized. 'One.examplethereofisishown in Fig. 5 wherein the forming strip 13 is sharpened to. a knife edge 22 on one of' itslongitudinal. edges, sothat when the forming strip is coiled the entire top face is made up of a series of coiledknife edges whichwill serve to sever or separate the tops: of the weft: strands upon the application of, pressure or a sudden impact such as the operation of an impactor cutting plate 23 in a wellknown manner. Note. that the severing operation also serves to part or out each of. the strands to a precise uniform length whereby a user of the: pad or; diskis sure that each weft strand. therein simultaneously engages a surface being buffed or polished. If a. pressuretype of adhesive is used in the: manufacture of the disk. or pad, two manufacturing operations may be performed simultaneously as suggested in Fig. 5. whereinthe applicationof continuous pressure to; plate 23 will first force the looped strands uniformly intothe adhesive; coated backing member 21 and thereafter effect: the. severance of the strands on the top-face ofthe: coiled-form;

Other means may be: used for removing: the coiled forming strip 13' after the pad has. been. completed; Examples of such means might conceivably include: the application of a flame or heat to the top face of; the coiled strip to effectively burn' orsdi'sintegrate the strands at the point indicated by'the. top edges of the'strips. An:- other means would comprise,- the. use of: a power driven or manually operated knife, grinder, or: crushing. roller, which would serve to effect. a. parting of. the. strands. If the nature of the material was such that it would not be desirable to sever the strands or if looped wefts were desirable, the form could be easily-pulled out by pulling on, the outer end of the forming strip 13. Inany case, the weft strands are all cut to a uniform. length. in. order to insure effective commercial utilization of the, finished polishing disk.

Although the afored'escribed' method for practicing the invention is directed to applications in which a flexible core is coiled, it should be. understood that a solid core strip could be used in certain cases wherein the strips would be stacked adjacent to one another to effectively present a series of rows of strands in the manufactured pad. In this case the core opening in the pad resulting from the winding operation could be eliminatcd.

In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a new and novel buffing or polishing disk is provided. As aforestated, in disks and pads presently available the strands are first secured, woven, or sewed to gether to form a strip which, in turn, is secured or sewed to the backing material in convolutions. The need for first sewing or weaving the strands together to provide an endless strip is completely eliminated in the present instance. Rather, each of the weft strands are firmly embedded and retained in a substantial layer of adhesive such as latex. A back view of a completed polishing disk 10 is detailedly shown in Fig. 3 after the forming strip has been removed. Thus, it should be evident that the individual strands constituting the rear or anchoring face are evenly and compactly spaced and cemented together and to the backing material 21 by means of the adhesive 20; a center opening 24 is cut or formed in the disk 10 to receive a mandrel or other power-driven shaft for rotating the disk at a predetermined speed and permit the same to be brought into buffing or polishing contact with the work such as the surface of an automobile, metals, furniture, ceramics, machinery, plastics, appliances, flooring, woodwork, or the like.

It should be apparent that a disk or pad manufactured in the aforedescribed manner has inherent characteristics which are vastly superior to those of any heretofore known or commercially used. The main feature, of course, is the fact that each polishing strand is seass-fess cured inthe adhesive. in such a manner that it cannot be extracted or pulled therefrom; rather, under unusual operating conditions, thestrand: will tear or part. at some intermediate point. Another characteristic is the fact that the density of the strands can actually be carefully controlled in twoways to. provide disks or pads for a variety of different purposes; likewise, since the-width of the forming strip determines the depth of. the pile, the same can be readily varied by using strips of different widths. All of. the aforesaid factors may be varied regardless of the. type of strand material whichmay conceivably be used in manufacturing the disks. Neither is it necessary to introduce any spacing or stuffing strands adjacent the anchoring face. of the disk in order to space the weft strands protruding to the. polishing face of the disk, as is. generally done when manufacturing disks or pads in the usual manner.

Thus, regardlessof the type. of material or the purpose of the. disk or. pad, it. is possible. to use the identical method of manufacture. by merely adjusting one of: the aforementioned factors to meet a particular requirement. In all cases, the. flexibility of the pad may be controlled because of the unitary and flexible body or base portion thereof. One. skilled in the art will also readily note that a pad or. disk could be built in the ascribed manner but without the. use of a backing material 21; in this case, it would be necessary to cure. or dry the adhesive completely so that the adhesive could serve in place. of the; backing material. The. resultant construction would create an entire pad with closely welded or secured strands and with all parts tenaciouslybound into a single mass to. provide an exceptionally toughv pad member capable; of. withstanding all, of; the wear. and tear which industry couldconceivabl'y subject. the same: to under any known usage.

Since the disks, are of, uniform construction throughout, it should be apparent that they are perfectly balanced to permit rotation at the very high speeds presently requiredv for certain prescribed buffing or polishing operations. Even the. peripheral. edge portions are uniformly formed. and secured to preclude any dfiiculty if the extreme rotating edge of the pad or disk is accidentally brought into contact with the work surface. Since the strands are compactly disposed, the edgewise strands tend to mushroom outwardly and around the edge of the disk to provide a uniformly curved surface in the peripheral area.

The method of polishing disk or pad construction, together with the novel features of the disk or pad per se, can be readily adapted to numerous other applications by one skilled in the art; it is understandable that the principles of the invention as herein set forth may be used in modified form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as described in the subjoined claims. It should likewise be borne in mind that other items in which the herein disclosed method of manufacture could be readily utilized are wax pads, carpeting, shoe buffers, paint rollers, dusters, wash mitts, fabrics, brushes, and other such items in which a nap rather than a smooth surface is a requisite; undoubtedly many more could be conceivably named.

The principles of the invention having now been fully explained in connection with the foregoing description of illustrative embodying apparatus, the invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. A method of manufacturing polishing disks which comprises winding a continuous strand contiguously around a flexible form strip, coiling said form strip, adhesively coating portions of said strand loops as presented by one face of said coiled strip to secure each convolution of said strand thereon to adjoining strand convolutions, constituting a backing material thereto, and cutting said convolutions on the other face of said coiled strip to release said strip and provide a polishing disk having strands of a uniform pile length throughout,

2, A method of manufacturing a. polishing pad that comprises winding a continuous polishing strand about a thin forming ribbon in a single layer off'contiguous coils, coiling said forming ribbon with said polishing strand wound thereabout, applying the portions of said strand lops presented by one edge of saidformi'ng ribbon into engagement with an adhesively coated backing member, and applying sufiicient pressure to the portions of 1 the strand loops presented by the opposite edge of said forming ribbon to sever the portions of the strand loops portions of the strandjloops into engagement with the adhesively coated backing member. Y

3. The method of manufacturing a polishing disk that comprises winding a strand about a flexible forming strip in a series of contiguous helical'loops engaging said strip, coiling said forming strip with said strand wound thereabout in spiral shape, applying an adhesive to the outer portions of the strand loops presented by one face of said coiled forming strip, applying a plate'member under pressure to the plurality of strand loops presented by the opposite face of said coiled forming strip in a manner to sever that portion of the strand loops between the face of said forming strip and'said plate member, and removing said forming strip to produce a polishing disk comprising a plurality of folded strand loops adhesively secured together and a pair of strand portions respectively extending from the loops.

4. The method of manufacturing a polishing disk that comprises winding a continuous strand about a forming strip in a manner to form a single layer of elongated helical strand loops engaging the opposite side facesto which pressure is applied and to embed the other the opposite edge of said forming strip'whereby said forming strip may be removed.

"5.The method of-man'ufactun'ng a polishing disk that comprises winding a continuous polishingstrand around a fiat metal forming ribbon having one dulledge and one sharp edge ina manne'r thatsaid strand is formed thereabout in a single layer ofcontigu'ous loops, coiling said metal ribbon ;with the "continuous strand wound thereabout' in a'manner that the strand loops presented by the [dull edge of'said metal ribbon are adjacently disposed, applyinga-layer of'adhesiveon said'strand loops, applyingabackingmember to the said layer; of adhesive for-securing each ofsaid strand loops to said backing membeiqapplying pressure to the portions of the strand loops presented by the sharp edge of said metal ribbon with sufiicient force that said strand loops are severed by theasharp edge of said ribbon, andremoving said metalqformingribbon.

6. A method of securing separate strands to a backing member that comprises Winding a continuousstrand about a flexible ribbon that'is thinner in thickness than the diameter of saids trand to form said continuous strand in a single layer of contiguous loops about said ribbon, coilingsaid ribbon supporting the contiguous strand loops applying a thin layer of adhesive to that portion of the strand loops presented by one edge of said ribbon, bonding a backing member to the adhesively coated portions of the strand loops, and severing the portions of the strand loops presented by the opposite edge of said ribbon to permit complete removal thereof and provide a unitaryarticlethereby.

References Cited in the file of this patent:

, UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,854,193 'Hopkin'son Apr. 19, 1932 2,332,936 schlegel Oct. 2 6, 1943 2,344,537 Cone Mar. 21, 1944 I 2,366,877 Schlegel Jan. 9,1945 FOREIGN PATENTS 291,766 Germany May 9, 1916 

